Gun-carriage.



H. N. RlDGWAY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1915.

LQOQIW. Patented 00x. 3,1916.

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GUN CARRIAGE.

APPUCATION FILED NOV. 2, 1915.

1 2 13? Patented Oct. 8, 1916.

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A Ziornag HERBERT N. RIDGWAY, OF WINTHBOP, MASSACHUSETTS.

GUN-CARRIAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

Application filed. November 2, 1915. Serial No. 59,313.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HERBERT N. RIDG- \VAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVinthrop, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Gun-Carriages, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to gun carriages and has for its object to provide an improved gun carriage which is extremely simple in construction, which gives a wide range of adjustment for the elevation of the gun, which is so constructed that the recoil of the gun is taken care of by the inertia thereof and without any complicated recoil mechanism, and which has other improvements, all as will be more fully hereinafter described.

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side View of a gun embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an end View of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line M, Fig. 2.

'1 indicates the gun which may be of any suitable or usual construction. In accordance with my invention, the gun is sustained by a pendulum-like supporting member which is hung on a plvot above the gun and means are provided whereby the angle of inclination of the gun relative to its supporting member can be changed, said means operating to hold the gun in any of its adjusted positions rigid with the supporting member. By this construction the gun and the pendulum member constitute a rigid structure except when the elevation of the gun is being changed. When the gun is fired, the recoil will tend to force the gun backwardly and because the gun and pendulum member are rigid with each other these two elements will swing backwardly as a unitary structure about the pivotal point of suspension of the pendulum member.

The pendulum member on which the gun is mounted is shown at 2. This is pivotally hung at its upper-end on a standard 3 of any suitable shape or construction, depending on the character of the gun. This standard 3 may be mounted on a fixed base or may be mounted on a movable carriage, or supported in any suitable way, depending on whether the gun is a siege gun, field piece, or any other piece of artillery. In the particular embodiment of the invention, the standard 3 comprises two side pieces 1 which rise from a turn-table 5 that is mounted to turn on a suitable base 6. The pendulum member 2 is shown as comprising two hangers 7 which are mounted at their upper ends upon the rockshaft S sustained in the side pieces 4.

The gun 1 is trunnioned in the lower end of the hangers 7, the trunnions 9 of the gun being pivotally mounted in bearings formed in said hangers. The gun is thus sustained on the lower end of a pendulum member which is pivotally suspended from its upper end.

Any suitable means may be employed for changing the elevation of the gun. A simple construction is herein shown wherein one of the trunnions 9 has rigid therewith a worm-gear 10 with which meshes a worm 11 on a shaft 12 that is journaled in suitable :bearings 13, 14 carried by the pendulum member 2, said shaft being held against longitudinal movement in the bearings so that rotation of the shaft will turn the gear 10 and thus efiect the desired change in elevation of the gun. Any suitable means may be employed t5 rotate the shaft 12. In the case of large guns, some suitable power mechanism will usually be employed, but in order to simplify the drawing, I have illustrated merely a hand-wheel mounted on the upper end of the shaft 12. This worm 11 and gear 10 hold the gun rigid with the pendulum member in all adjusted positions of the gun so that the gun can have no movement relative to the pendulum member except when the shaft 12 is being turned to adjust the elevation of the gun.

16 indicates a pointer rigid with one of the trunnions 9 and which plays over a scale 17 fast to the inside of one of the side pieces 4, said scale and pointer serving to indicate the elevation of the gun and to assist the gunner in giving the gun the proper elevation. The construction of the pendulum-gun-supporting member 2 and the standard 3 is such as to permit the gun to be shifted from a position below horizon tal to an angle of 80 or 85, thus giving an extremely wide range of adjustment.

I have also provided means for holding the gun yieldingly in its central position with the pendulum member 2 hanging vertically, and while any centering device may be used, that hereinshown is a simple and practical one. It consists of a plate or member 20 rigid with the pendulum member 2 and provided with a V-shaped notch 21 and a lever 22 pivoted at 24: to one of the side pieces 4 and provided at its end with a V-shaped projection 23 adapted to enter the notch 21. The lever 22 is acted on by a spring 25 which is shown as connected at one end to a pin or projection 26 carried by one of the side pieces a and which yieldingly holds the lever in operative position. The gun is so mounted in the pendulum member 2 that when the partsare left free, the pendulum member 2 will hang vertically and it is yieldingly retained in this position by the V-shaped projection 28 of the centering member 22 which occupies the notch 21. When the gun is fired, the recoil will tend to move the gun backwardly, and

as the gun and pendulum member are held rigid with each other they will swing as a unit about the rock-shaft 8, as shown by dotted lines Fig. 1. 'This swinging movement is resisted at first by the inertia of the gun, but as soon as the gun begins to swing backwardly, the action of gravity comes into play to resist the recoil movement. As the gun and pendulum member swing toward the dotted line position, Fig. 1, the action of gravity on the gun is an effective force in resisting the recoil movement and bringing the gun to rest, and because the pendulum member and gun swing as a unit, the force of gravity which resists the recoil increases as the gun continues swinging backwardly. WVhen the force of the recoil has been expended, the gun will swing back into its vertical position again and the centering device 23,21 will assist in bringing thegun to rest in its normal position. The combined action of the inertia of the gun and of gravity efiectively take care of the recoil without subjecting the gun mounting to any severe strain.

The device is extremely simple in construction and yet provides all the necessary elements of an artillery piece without any complicated mechanism.

I claim:

1. In a gun carriage, the combination with a gun, of a pendulum gun-supporting member in which the gun is trunnioned, means for pivotally suspending said pendulum member from a point above the gun, and means for adjusting the gun relative to the pendulum member to vary the elevation of the gun, said means operating to hold the gun in any adjusted position thereof rigid with the pendulum member whereby the force of the recoil of the gun causes the gun and pendulum member to swing backwardly as a unit. 7 V

2. In a gun carriage, the combination with a gun, of a pendulum gun-supporting member, a gun secured to and held rigid with said member, and means for pivotally supporting said pendulum member from a point above the gun whereby the recoil of the gun when it is fired will cause the pendulum member and gun to swing backwardly as a unit.

3. In a gun carriage, the combination with a gun, of a pendulum gun-supporting member in which the gun is supported,

means for adjusting the gun relative to the pendulum member and for holding the gun and member rigid with each other in any adjusted position of the gun, means for pivotally suspending said pendulum member irom'a point above the gun, and means for yieldingly holding the pendulum member in central position. 7

4:. In a gun carriage, the combination with a standard, of a pendulum member pivotally hung from said standard, a gun trunnione'd in said member below the pivotal point thereof, said gun being capable of turning movement about its trunnions and relative to the pendulum member from a position below horizontal to a nearly vertical position, and means for locking the gun rigid with the pendulum member in any adj usted position thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

' HERBERT N. RIDGWAY.

Gopiesof this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.' 

